Lightweight fabric for a handkerchief / THU 2-12-26 / Heavy metal band whose name is a big cat in Spanish / 7-Eleven competitor on the East Coast / Michael nominated for Oscars in five decades / Sapa ___ ("The only emperor" in Quechua) / Dennis's sister on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" / Northeastern prep school or its town

Constructor: Kareem Ayas

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (once you get the gimmick, very easy)

THEME: GIVE A HUG / STEAL A KISS (58A: Provide comfort, in a way ... or a hint to the answers to the four starred Across clues / 26D: Quickly smooch ... or a hint to the answers to the four starred Down clues) — you (the solver) have to (mentally) GIVE A HUG (i.e. add an "O") to four Across answers, and STEAL A KISS (i.e. remove on "X") from four Down answers in order to make sense of their clues:

Theme answers:

• D(O) WELL / LATEX (1A: *Succeed (DWELL + "O" = "do well") / 5D: *Behind in payment (LATEX minus "X" = "late") 
• SH(O)UT-OUTS / EXTERNALLY (18A: *Public messages of appreciation (SHUTOUTS + "O" = "shout-outs") / 11D: *Forevermore (EXTERNALLY minus "X" = "eternally")
• CLAM S(O)UP / AXMEN (37A: *New England-style chowder, for one (CLAMS UP + "O" = "clam soup") / 29D: *Word appearing 51 times in the New Testament (AXMEN minus "X" = "Amen")
• FLAMING(O) / MAXIM (54A: *Long-legged wader (FLAMING + "O" = "flamingo") / 52D: *Severely harm (MAXIM minus "X" = "maim")

Word of the Day: BATISTE (47A: Lightweight fabric for a handkerchief) —

[the only BATISTE I know]

A fine cloth made from cotton or linen; cambric. // From French batiste, a form of Baptiste, of disputed origin (“according to Littré and Scheler from the alleged original maker, Baptiste of Cambray; according to others, from its use in wiping the heads of children after baptism” – OED) (Wiktionary via Wordnik)

• • •

My appreciation for this puzzle went up as I started writing the explanation of the theme (above). During the solve, I got the drop-an-"O" / add-an-"X" thing pretty quickly—after that, I had an idea of what to look for, and the only mystery was what the revealer phrase was going to be. When the revealer phrase turned out to be plural—revealer phrases—I was slightly disappointed at first. It makes sense to pair hug and kiss, obviously, and crossing two revealer phrases is pretty impressive, architecturally, but somehow the specific phrases here, GIVE A HUG and STEAL A KISS, belong to such different universes, contextually, that the whole "reveal" moment felt like it clanked. I'm giving comfort ... but then also secretly / furtively / possibly non-consensually kissing someone? The latter has decidedly romantic implications, the former absolutely does not, so the pairing seemed odd. So I closed the puzzle feeling slightly disappointed. But then writing out the theme, and really looking at how it was executed, my appreciation for the craftsmanship involved here began to increase. You're pairing (crossing) X- and O-related answers, you're adding a letter in one direction but taking it away in the other, you end up with perfectly plausible-looking answers in the grid in every case ... that's a lot of balls to keep in the air. Throw in the two revealer phrases and you've got ten (10!) theme answers—do you have any idea how dense that is? How hard it is to fill a grid with this many themers running in both directions? That the grid worked out at all is remarkable. That it came out relatively clean and even vibrant in places (EVEN STEVEN! MOUSETRAPS!) is kind of amazing. I enjoyed discovering the missing "O"s and extra "X"s, and there were very few times along the way where I thought "oof" or "no," so ... yeah, I liked this one, and the more I look at it, the more I like it.

I started out by getting DWELL but not getting DWELL, and then seeing LATE but not understanding why there was an extra square at the end. When EXIT gave me LATEX I thought "OK, we're adding Xs ... what's going on with DWELL?" If you stare at DWELL hard enough, knowing the clue is [*Succeed], DO WELL just pops out. At least it did for me. I feel like my constant diet of cryptic crosswords probably helped, as I'm now very accustomed to mentally cutting up words and rearranging their parts. Lots of training in seeing what's not there and dropping what is. Anyway, the initial struggle to figure out the theme concept was the only real difficulty for me today. That and BATISTE, which ... ?????? My first and only thought there was "the original clue here must have been Jon BATISTE." BATISTE was bandleader and musical director of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for seven years (2015-22 and was a regular on-screen (and conversational) presence. He has won eight Grammys, including Album of the Year for 2021's We Are. This is all to say that he is more than crossworthy and I would've loved to see him as the clue here instead of this fabric I've never heard of (which is somehow the same as cambric but also not (?!) ... I fell down a bit of a BATISTE rabbit hole and it didn't leave me any fabric-smarter).

[BATISTE being Stephen Colbert's bandleader *and* crossing "EVEN STEVEN" ... would've been good, I'm just saying...]

While I liked the puzzle overall, there were some moments that were less than pleasant. LISTEE hurt my ears and made my shoulders tense up (4D: Directory name). A "directory name" is a LISTING. Yes it is. You know it is. I'm sure LISTEE's lawyers have prepared a good case but overruled, contempt of court, this whole courtroom is out of order, case dismissed. Actually, looking over the grid, the only other part that made me holler "no!" (silently, in my head) was GRAS because they decided to go the force-fed geese route instead of the simple (and *timely*) Mardi GRAS route. Always choose the festive parade over the animal torture. I also will always hate TE-HEE, spelled thusly. I just can't accept the "TE"—the two parts rhyme, so the two parts should look the same. It's TEE + HEE. See also TEPEE. But otherwise, nothing UNHOLY about this grid at all. Again, given the theme density, it's remarkably solid.

Bullets:

• 20A: Heavy metal band whose name is a big cat in Spanish (PANTERA) — maybe the thinking behind the BATISTE clue was "well, we've already used one long musical name that's' not exactly universally famous, maybe we shouldn't do it twice." Both PANTERA and BATISTE have multiple Grammy nominations. But BATISTE can (apparently!) be clued in a non-musical way, whereas PANTERA cannot*, so PANTERA stays a musical act and BATISTE gets changed. Boo. Side note: PANTERA would be a great answer for anyone working on some kind of "add-a-T" theme. PANERA + "T" = PANTERA. [*update: there is an automotive PANTERA, it turns out]

• 2D: 7-Eleven competitor on the East Coast (WAWA) — I live in the NE but not on the "East Coast," so there are actually no WAWAs in my vicinity. But I am aware of their existence, and I'm very aware that WAWA was very recently in the puzzle (Jan. 20, 2026), so I dropped WAWA next to DROP no problem.
• 3D: Tree of knowledge locale (EDEN) — I always think of it as the "Tree of the knowledge of good and evil," because that's what it's called, but this is good enough I guess. Sh(o)ut-outs to all the Paradise Lost fans out there.
• 29A: *Word appearing 51 times in the New Testament (AXMEN) — this is my favorite theme answer. Not the base answer ("Amen") but the actual "X"-added answer. I just love the idea of the New Testament being really into guitar players. "And Jesus shreddeth for the masses, and it was good."

[skip to 3:30 if you want to see God's Own Axman at work]

• 33D: Lunch item usually eaten with two hands, in brief (BLT) — [citation needed]
• 41D: Michael nominated for Oscars in five decades (CAINE) — had the "C" and thought "ooh, it's Michael CERA + an 'X' ... somehow. So, what would that make? CERAX? CEXAR? Why can't I make a word? Wait a minute ... Michael CERA hasn't even been alive for five decades, what the hell? Oh, crap, this isn't even a themer. So ... right, Michael CAINE. Yes, that's much better."
• 58D: Unpleasant discovery under a desk (GUM) — first of all, if I left the GUM there for later, then my "discovery" is not "unpleasant" at all, thank you very much. Second, I had G-M here and for a split second definitely thought GAM. "Why would that be unpleasant? Who doesn't like GAMs!?" In my defense, you can definitely find GAMs "under a desk"—you might get hauled into HR for inappropriate workplace behavior if you actively go hunting for them, but trust me, they're there. Sometimes.

[gams, seen here not under a desk]

That's all. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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Andy's partner in an old radio sitcom / WED 2-11-26 / One-named singer with the 2017 platinum album "Melodrama" / Matchmaking site with a "synagogue attendance" filter / ___ pear (applelike fruit) / Hoped-for prognosis for an election incumbent / 1957 rock 'n' roll classic suggested by this puzzle's circled letters / "Then, window, let day in, and let ___ out": Juliet / Glasses sans glass

Constructor: Joseph Gangi

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "GREAT BALLS OF FIRE" (57A: 1957 rock 'n' roll classic suggested by this puzzle's circled letters) — circled four-square blocks form four "balls" of "F-I-R-E" (with each "ball" having the letters at a different stage of rotation): 

Theme answers:

"GOODNESS GRACIOUS" (18A: "Oh, for heaven's sake!") [this is the line that immediately precedes "GREAT BALLS OF FIRE" in the chorus of the song]

DEFIES 

GRIND 

(34A: Openly resists)

(38A: Arduous routine)

DOGBREED 

   LIFE 

(29A: Newfoundland or Labrador retriever)

(36A: "Then, window, let day in, and let ___ out": Juliet)

 MIRE

SAFESEAT

(42A: Swampy land)

(45A: Hoped-for prognosis for an election incumbent)

 SOFIA

CATERS

(40A: "Priscilla" director Coppola)

(43A: Does the dishes?)

Word of the Day: "GREAT BALLS OF FIRE" (57A) —

"Great Balls of Fire" is a 1957 popular song recorded by American rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records and featured in the 1957 movie Jamboree. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer. The Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 recording was ranked as the 96th-greatest song ever by Rolling Stone. It is written in AABA form. It sold one million copies in its first 10 days of release in the United States, making it one of the best-selling singles at that time.

• • •

Well, those are balls of "FIRE," but I'm not sure they're "great." Actually, I'm not even sure they're "balls." They're only "balls" because you've drawn circles around the relevant letters. So really they're GREAT SQUARES OF 'FIRE' ... or squares of 'FIRE'—again, the "greatness" is lost on me. The craftsmanship is impeccable here as far as the theme goes—the "balls" are arranged symmetrically toward the center of the grid, and each ball has the letters "F-I-R-E" in a different stage of rotation, so that every possible arrangement of the letters (read in clockwise order) is represented. Amazing find and great luck that "GOODNESS GRACIOUS" and "GREAT BALLS OF FIRE" have precisely the same number of letters. So you've got a kind of "great balls" sandwich, with the lyrics as the bread (on top, down below). It's all very neat. Structurally neat. But it was also a little lifeless, as a puzzle, and I still don't really believe those "balls" are "great," or even (really) "balls." 

I wonder how well younger solvers know this song. It's a classic, but I don't know if "classics" from the '50s still factor into younger people's store of songs. The song is well before my time (came out 12 years before I was born), but I know it very well—rock music simply hadn't been around *that* long when I was a kid, and so the store of "oldies" seemed finite and you could still hear them all over the place.  Also, Jerry Lee Lewis was a ... let's say, colorful figure. Frequently in the news (and, after the '50s, usually not for music—he had many wives, many personal tragedies, many tax problems). "GREAT BALLS OF FIRE" came out in November of 1957, the month before he married his 13-year-old cousin (who eventually left him, stating that she had been "subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable" (wikipedia)). He lost two children very young in separate accidents (car, pool), At least two of his wives died young (drugs, pool). But as an artist, he is best known for his wild, energetic playing style. Here's Elton John from a 2013 interview:

"[Until 'GREAT BALLS OF FIRE'], the piano playing that I had heard had been more sedate. My dad collected George Shearing records, but this was the first time I heard someone beat the shit out of a piano. When I saw Little Richard at the Harrow Granada, he played it standing up, but Jerry Lee Lewis actually jumped on the piano! This was astonishing to me, that people could do that. Those records had such a huge effect on me, and they were just so great. I learned to play like that." (wikipedia)

The overall grid was easy and a bit dull. Lots of 3-4-5s, esp. through the middle—gotta really divide and control that physical space in order to make all the "balls" work out right. But the "balls" themselves aren't interesting from a solving perspective (since they aren't directly connected to clues at all), and the fill drags a little as a result. You do get a few nice longer answers around the edges. I'm thinking about "YOU LOST ME" and BEST OF ALL, and even SAT IN FOR, but the other longer answers are a little on the meh side, and the short gunk gets a little gunkier than it should, probably (EEN EEO EINS EERIE ELS ELA ESS ERAT ... that's just the "E"s). I admire the architecture of this puzzle more than I enjoyed solving it.

Bullets:

• 1A: Lewis Carroll's "The ___ and the Carpenter" ("WALRUS") — I got this easily enough, but only because, if you solve crosswords long enough, you'll learn a weird lot about Alice in Wonderland, whether you want to or not. Think of it like the Star Wars of the olden days—a seemingly endless well of trivia for the crossword to draw from. I don't know that I've ever read Alice in Wonderland (or Through the Looking Glass) all the way through. Maybe I saw the cartoon? Anyway, I don't actually remember the WALRUS, but I think I've seen that WALRUS in at least one other (maybe cryptic?) puzzle just this week. Anyway, you'll see the cake message "EAT ME" or stray words from "Jabberwocky" and a lot of other Carroll-related stuff if you solve long enough.

• 45A: Hoped-for prognosis for an election incumbent (SAFE SEAT) — something about the wording of this clue seems off. SAFE SEAT is not a "hoped-for" thing; it's usually a structural thing, built into the seat itself. A district that contains an overwhelmingly "blue" or "red" voting bloc is considered a SAFE SEAT (for D or R, respectively). An "incumbent" obviously "hopes for" re-election," so they hope their seat is "safe" in that sense, but that's not really what SAFE SEAT means.
• 9D: Taylor Swift's "___ Song" ("OUR") — OK, there's no need to go to Taylor Swift for the simple word "OUR." That's back-to-back Swift days. It's getting worse than Star Wars. Don't make me break out a Swift counter. The puzzle has got to me more imaginative than this. Returning to the Swift well over and over, even when you absolutely don't have to, is a little exhausting.
• 53D: Actress Fanning (ELLE) — would've loved to have seen some mention here of her recent Academy Award nomination for her performance in Sentimental Value (my favorite movie of last year). I don't think I ever paid much attention to Fanning's work before that, but she is perfect as the superstar American actress (mis-)cast in the comeback film of a highly regarded older director (played by Stellan Skarsgård). The director's own daughter (also an actress) turned the role down, and so ELLE Fanning gets cast instead and ends up in a kind of surrogate daughter relationship with the director, while the real daughter (who has a lot of justifiable anger toward her father) looks on from the outside. It's all very touching and remarkably funny, and my wife and I both marveled at Fanning, who has to play an actress who is *wrong* for the part—not broadly, obviously, over-the-top wrong. Just ... wrong. It's a subtle, beautiful performance.

That's all. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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